Tag Archives: school story

Told from the perspective of a school, the first day of school takes on new meaning. At first, it is just the school and the janitor, but when the kids arrive, school figures out what his various features are for: the … Continue reading →

At first I was a little shocked at the title. Then I read El Deafo, Cece Bell‘s graphic novel/memoir of her childhood: how she became deaf and how she felt about it growing up. Bell shows us the many friends and a pseudo-friend, … Continue reading →

Sometimes we need a light read about life in school, a best friend and the new girl who changes everything. Like Carrot Juice On A Cupcake by Julie Sternberg fits the bill, and it’s in light verse to boot. It’s all hard … Continue reading →

Jane, The Fox & Me, a beautiful graphic novel looks much like a picture book, both with its size and its style of illustrations. Hélène, a middle schooler in Montreal, Quebec, is suddenly outcast by her friends, and she believes the graffiti … Continue reading →

“I know I’m not an ordinary ten-year-old kid.” Although August doesn’t look ordinary, he feels ordinary on the inside and as he narrates how others react to his craniofacial anomaly, especially as he begins traditional school for the first time. … Continue reading →

Rebecca Stead has done it again. She’s created a novel that wonderfully surprises us. Sort of like The Sixth Sense, I found myself looking back through the novel looking for those red markers. I won’t give it away. What you need to … Continue reading →

It only took Adelaide to set off a domino effect involving annoyance, fuming, irritation and upending. Barbara Bottner‘s text is tight, the words are expressive and perfect for story-time in preschool or word study in kindergarten and up. Michael Emberley‘s … Continue reading →

It looks like a scrapbook of refrigerator notes, journal entries and instant messaging, but Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf tells an intricate story of friendship, a delinquent sibling and Ginny Davis’s middle school angst all liberally dosed with humour. There’s … Continue reading →

Courage. Communication. Friendship. Being left out. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper explores these themes with a beautiful touch. Listen: “Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes–each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my … Continue reading →

Miss Bruff wants us to write poems. I am. Miss Bruff wants poems that rhyme. Mine don’t. Rhyme is okay sometimes, but my poems don’t rhyme and neither do I. At school, Pearl is in a group of one and … Continue reading →